


What We are Beneath the Moon

by Drag0nst0rm



Series: Monsters in the Dark [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Gen, Minor Character Death, Torture, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-03 21:22:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10258658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drag0nst0rm/pseuds/Drag0nst0rm
Summary: He is heir to the wolfking and high in the pack. He will not give his captors the satisfaction of hearing him cry out.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not done with my original work, but I've given up trying to focus on one project at once. I'll do my best to write each day, but I'll work on whatever I have the time and inspiration for.
> 
> Today, that was this.

Arthur curled up in the cage. He finally given up on pacing. His paws were raw from pressing into the silver wire, and there wasn't enough room to pace properly anyway.

The knights would come soon, he promised himself. It would be embarrassing when they realized he'd been caught by human slavers, but anything was better than this.

. . .

The new cage was even smaller. He couldn't stand, much less pace. The silver was starting to burn through his fur.

His stomach was empty enough that even the drugged meat they kept offering was starting to look appealing.

At least, he assumed it was drugged. They'd drenched the cage in so many harsh scents that he wasn't sure he could smell a bloodsucker if one was right in front of him. The spices burned his nose with every breath. It took all he had not to whine at the pain.

He was beta to the pack and heir to the kingdom. He was the son of Uther Throatripper, the wolfking that had reduced the bloodlickers to a few cringing remnants. He would not give the slavers the satisfaction of hearing him whimper as some of the other prisoners did.

He tried to talk to the other prisoners at first. Tried to help, to reassure. They weren't alone. There was a wolfbrother here. Sooner or later, one of their packs would come.

The slavers beat them all until the only sounds were faint whimpers.

. . .

There hadn't been any drugged meat for a long time. There hadn't been any water either. Or light.

Something had happened to the slavers, Arthur realized dimly. Something had happened, and now no one knew where they were.

The whimpers had quieted. The humans first, and then the other wolves. Spice wasn't the only stench in his nose now.

The magic was strongest in him. He would last the longest.

One quiet whimper broke the quiet. He wasn't alone yet after all.

He yipped softly to reassure the younger wolf. There's someone else here, the noise promised. It'll be alright.

He wished he could transform and talk properly. He wished his throat wasn't so parched. He wished he had the strength to break out and set them all free.

He wished that whimper hadn't been the last sound he heard that wasn't made by himself.

. . .

The door creaked open.

Not real, he thought dully. It couldn't be real.

A sliver of moonlight had fallen onto the floor. A pale boy slipped in. Arthur couldn't catch his scent, but he was too thin to be a wolf-brother. Human, then.

The boy gagged at the smell. "Will?" he called in a choked whisper.

Maybe real after all. Why would his mind conjure up a rescuer not even meant for him?

The boy went from cage to cage. He froze by one and bent his head. Half-formed sobs ripped from his throat.

Arthur finally worked up the strength to make a noise.

It was pathetically weak, but the stranger heard it. He jumped, afraid, before figuring out what it was. He made his way over to the cage, tears still freely falling down his cheeks. "Oh," he breathed. "Oh, no." He fumbled for his waterskin and hastily poured about half into the bowl on the floor of the cage. "Drink that," he ordered. He raked a hand through his hair. "I'll - I'll figure out what to do."

Whatever he'd been planning to do to get Will out, Arthur hoped, but he was in no position to argue. He lapped up the water carefully, letting it settle before getting more.

The human was grieving. Arthur could understand a little franticness. He hadn't been trained for this.

"Alright. Alright, I can pick the lock." The boy shifted his pack and dug out some tools. He looked up, considering. "I brought some clothes. Do you think maybe you could change back when I get you out? I don't have food for a wolf."

For food, absolutely, no matter how much of his remaining strength it stole.

The boy set to work on the doors. "I'm Merlin, by the way. I went to a lot of trouble to find this place, and I'm going to even more trouble to get you out, so please don't eat me."

Arthur would have snorted if he'd been human at the moment.

The door slid open. Arthur all but fell out.

At this point, even Merlin could fight him off without so much as a stick.

. . .

Even with his ability to heal quickly, it was slow going. The woods were dangerous, and Arthur was weak.

It felt good to slip back into human form. It felt good to speak. It felt good to have something but rot and silence meet his senses.

The silence always got him before long.

"Who was he to you?" Arthur asked the second night. "Will, I mean."

Merlin ducked under a low branch. They only traveled at night. Merlin insisted it was safer, and Arthur traveled better at night anyway. "My best friend. He saved my life more than once. He never should have been there."

"I'm sorry," Arthur said quietly. He meant it. No one deserved to die like that. It was his job to make sure his people didn't have to suffer like that.

Merlin tried to smile. He couldn't quite manage it. "At least I got someone out. Even if you are a - " He cut himself off and finished with " - dollophead."

"You really don't like werewolves, do you?" Arthur was more amused than offended. Merlin was always fine around Arthur until he had to say the word.

"How's your nose doing?" Merlin asked.

"Well enough to smell an evasion," he said wryly. "Not good enough for much else."

"Maybe if I found a skunk - "

"No."

. . .

The third night, a few scents started to trickle back in. A deer had been here. Some hunters. A vampire.

Arthur froze for a moment when he first caught the scent, but he kept moving quickly. He didn't want to worry Merlin if it was just an old scent.

But the scent stayed with them, and overlaying the smell of blood was something almost familiar.

"We're being followed," he told Merlin in as low a murmur as he could manage.

Merlin's shoulders tightened. "We'll be at a patrol route in a night if we can make it that far."

"We'll make it," Arthur promised.

He still wasn't in any condition to fight.

. . .

"The knights come here frequently," Merlin said. "If you keep heading north, you'll meet up with them soon."

"I know," Arthur said dryly. "I've run it with them."

Merlin jumped. "You're a knight?"

Arthur stared at him. "Merlin," he said slowly, "you are from around here, aren't you?"

"You're a famous, stuck-up, knight?"

"Try 'prince.'"

Merlin stared at him. "I'm dead," he finally managed. "I'm so, so dead."

Arthur laughed and clapped him on the back. "Nonsense. You saved my life. I'm sure Father will reward you generously for that."

Merlin edged away. "Maybe I should just head on. I wasn't really headed toward the castle anyway."

Arthur sobered quickly. "And if you meet up with our follower?"

Merlin hesitated. His eyes flicked to the bandages still on Arthur's hands.

Arthur was pretty sure it wasn't Merlin's own safety that convinced him to stay.

. . .

The scent of vampire was so strong when he woke up that Arthur nearly choked on it. He sprang to his feet. If it had dared to feed on Merlin -

Merlin was over by the cookfire, his back to Arthur. "I just finished my share of the stew," he said cheerily. "Yours should be done in a moment."

The scent of a bloodsucker was all over the camp. There wasn't a trace of a human anywhere.

He had never actually seen Merlin eat. He had suspected Merlin was cutting his own rations to give Arthur more. He hadn't suspected this.

So pale. So determined to travel at night.

How clouded had his wits been that he hadn't realized?

Merlin turned to see why he hadn't answered. He flinched back from the look on Arthur's face.

"If I live through this, Mum's going to kill me."

Arthur stared at him in utter disbelief. "What were you thinking?"

Merlin winced. "I get asked that a lot."

That was when the vampire leaped out from the moonlit trees.

Arthur spun and shifted automatically. He sprang forward and crashed into the leech. His jaws closed on her shoulder even as her fangs sank into his.

They hit the ground rolling. His weight should have given him an advantage, but he'd lost so much of it. His claws scrabbled uselessly against her hard skin, lacking the strength to go in. He was weak.

She grabbed one of his legs and squeezed. She laughed as the bones creaked.

Morgana.

He fought harder, but she'd pinned him now, victorious fangs lunging for his throat -

A stake burst through her chest from behind. Morgana fell.

Merlin stood behind her.

Arthur rolled back onto his feet. Merlin dropped his stake and let out a long breath. He kept staring at the body.

Arthur changed back and put his torn clothes back on.

Morgana was dead. That - was hard to wrap his mind around. He shoved it aside to think about later.

He could smell Merlin properly now. The fainter scent of human had been hidden by the overwhelming scent of blood.

"So you weren't the vampire after all."

Merlin gaped at him. "You thought I was a vampire?"

Arthur shrugged. "You don't eat, you wanted to travel at night . . . "

"I wasn't sure if the slavers were coming back! And I didn't want you to realize that I was giving you most of the food so that you could get your strength back, you, you - prat!"

Arthur walked over to the corpse. "So what did you think I'd figured out?"

"Um . . . "

It didn't matter. The sigil on the stake said it all.

"You're an Ambrosius." They'd been the best vampire hunters in Camelot till Uther banished them. "Your whole clan is banished on pain of death."

"I saved your life. Twice," Merlin added.

Arthur held up his hands. "Relax. I'm not going to turn you in." He was in no condition to even if wanted to, not with his wounds still dripping blood, but even aside from that . . . He didn't want to. Not that he'd admit that out loud.

Merlin shook his head. "A vampire. You thought I was a vampire. You really are a dollophead, aren't you?"

"You're no better," Arthur pointed out.

"Yes, well - "

A howl split the air.

"Your knights." Merlin looked around frantically. "They've caught the scent. I have to go."

Arthur tossed him the stake. Merlin had his gear ready in under a minute.

"Good luck," Arthur said. "And thank you. I won't forget this."

Merlin flashed him a grin. "You'd better not. I don't fancy getting my throat ripped out by your father if I ever get caught." He ran into the trees.

Which rather left the burning question of just how often he broke the banishment, but Arthur added that to the lengthy list of things he didn't think about..

More howls rose into the night. Arthur shifted back and raised his voice to answer them.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Or the AU in which Camelot's nobility are all werewolves, vampires are what happen when werewolves and humans have children (or vampires and vampires; basically, yes, Morgana was still Arthur's half sister here), and Merlin's family is the AU's equivalent of witchhunters. And Merlin is 100% human and 0% magic and yet still 500% capable of taking down absolutely everyone despite his scrawny looks.
> 
> The original plan was for Merlin to be a vampire. It was set up as a while reveal/twist thing.
> 
> Then I realized that as soon as I said, "Uther tried to wipe out the vampires," and then said, "Merlin," pretty much everyone was going to go, "Merlin's going to be a vampire." And I do so hate to be predictable. Hopefully this was a bit more surprising.


End file.
